Bless the broken road
by WriterKos
Summary: What if we could stop, pause to take stock of each precious moment before it passes? Might we then see the endless forks in the road that have shaped a life? Vignettes of Joy Buchanan series. Some surprise pairing. GibbsOC SarahOC TonyZiva PalmerOC
1. Gibbs x Dana

**_Bless the broken road_**

_Resume - What if we could stop, pause to take stock of each precious moment before it passes? Might we then see the endless forks in the road that have shaped a life? Part of the Joy Buchanan series. Some surprise pairing. GibbsOC SarahOC TonyZiva PalmerOC._

_Disclaimer: No money is being made with these stories, I'm just trying to avoid insanity born out of pure boredom. They are simply my therapy._

_TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,  
__And sorry I could not travel both  
__And be one traveler, long I stood  
__And looked down one as far as I could  
__To where it bent in the undergrowth;_

(…)

_Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—  
__I took the one less traveled by,  
__And that has made all the difference.  
__Robert Frost – The road not taken_

**_Gibbs x Dana_**

"I can't believe I agreed to do this," says Dana Stratton as she looks at her image on the mirror for the umpteenth time that evening.

"I'm not a single lady any more to be picked up at home for blind dates," she keeps whining, as her daughter, Megan, keeps bringing her different scarves to match with her cocktail dress, which hugs her curves just right. Her daughter just ignores her and gives her another scarf, which she tries around her neck, considers for a moment and discards it.

"Mom," she offers another scarf, which Dana rolls around her neck, and studies herself critically in the mirror. At 41, she worked hard to keep a nice figure, as image was a fundamental part of the job as one of the intelligence staff working for the Secret Service in the White House. Basically, she reviewed intelligence reports and ensured that the correct information reached in timely manner the person (or several people) involved. It was mostly paperwork, but still she loved it, as she worked very closely to the President and to his personal staff.

She plays a little with her copper hair, which her daughter had painstakingly curled with a hot iron to create a very glamorous look. The long gorgeous red curls were in an elegant creation, held together with pearl pins, and some curls fell over her long neck.

"It's all that old bat's fault," she turns to her daughter, "I should never had agreed with Dr. Buchanan about going out with …" she looks at her daughter, "how is he related to her?"

"He's her daughter's boss," says Megan, "and it is not only a blind date, it is also a bet, you made a bet with Agent Wilson that you would go out on a date with the first interested party that came up to you just to not go on a date with him."

"Yeah, I did," she slides her hand over her dark blue dress, feeling the smooth lines of the cloth over her body, "how do I look?"

"Gorgeous, you will knock him out dead, now relax, I will be downstairs, as soon as he knocks on the door, I will call you and you make your grand entrance, ok?"

Dana takes a deep breath, "ok, I'll be waiting."

Megan goes downstairs, and Dana looks around her bedroom, and feels her legs starting to tremble as well as the nervous revolt of her stomach at her decision. She sits down on her bed and slides her hand over the handmade quilt on top of it, feeling the panic reaching astronomic proportions.

"Oh, Fred, what the hell am I thinking?"

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

On the other side of town, Gibbs was trying several different ties before the mirror, and finally goes back to the first one he picked. He had dressed himself smartly, in one of his favorite combinations of jacket and white shirt underneath, as he was going to one of the nicest (and more romantic) restaurants in town with a stranger, all courtesy of Maggie Buchanan, a.k.a. the dragon lady, which is what he privately called her in his mind.

He was entrapped in this blind date, and actually had no way to cancel it as it would be very uncomfortable for the lady in question and also a waste of money, as apparently the Buchanans had already picked up the tab.

He looks himself at the mirror closely, and finds more lines on his face than he used to have the last time he really paid attention to his image. After four marriages, three divorces and the painful death of his first wife and kid, his heart wasn't really into the idea of trying again.

But he wasn't against to going out with beautiful women, and as far as he had researched – McGee wasn't the only one who was able to access federal employees' records – she was redheaded just the way he liked, and gorgeous.

So, he donned his overcoat, put a warm scarf around his neck and left the house, driving into the cold night to pick up his date for a night of wining and dining.

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

He parks his pickup truck in front of the the small two story house where Mrs. Dana Stratton lives. It is a nice house, not very far from his own neighborhood. He closes his eyes and reviews the little information he has on her, courtesy of a very long email full of instructions and general bossiness from Maggie Buchanan.

She's a mother of two, youngest is Megan, 19, attending Waverly University, oldest is Charles, 22, attending pre-med in Georgetown. She's a widow, her husband died of a fatal heart attack at the young age of 44, that was three years ago. She is responsible in her job, very well loved among her peers. And a redhead. And gorgeous.

Gibbs opens his eyes and smirks, as it has been a while since he had felt such curiosity about another member of the human race.

He laughs out loud as he remembers some outrageous recommendations in Maggie's email, one that even recommended him to "release the inner beast" and "give Dana a good time, as Lord knows that girl needs it." All of that written with the Clan Buchanan trademark wit, of course.

He starts to knocks on the door, but the door opens before he can do it, and prepares himself to meet a… young lady with bright red hair with jeans and a Metallica T-Shirt.

"Hi, you must be Jethro Gibbs."

"Hi, I'm looking for Dana Stratton." The young lady smiles, and opens the door wider. He enters and she closes the door after him.

"Just a second."

"MOM!"

"I GIVE UP!" A voice from upstairs shouts, "this is ridiculous, I'm too old for this craziness, I will call that agent and tell him that I'm not going, and Maggie Buchanan can shove her meddling ways where…"

"MOM!" Megan shouts horrified.

"What?"

She starts coming down the stairs, and she freezes in the middle of it when she sees a gorgeous salt and pepper man standing by the door.

"Your date is here," says Megan.

"Hi," says Gibbs.

"Hi," says Dana.

Megan looks from her mother to the good looking man by the door and grins, "I will be… in the kitchen," she starts walking towards the back of the house, and mutters, "stuffing myself with ice cream and dying of envy of my own mother."

The gorgeous stranger by door smiles at Dana, and she feels a warmth running up her body that she hadn't felt for a long time, since her husband died.

"You look beautiful," he says.

She smiles, "thanks," she starts going down the last steps of the stairs, and he approaches and offers his hand to her. She automatically takes his hand, and finally she's standing before him. Even on her five inch heels, she is still shorter than him, and she feels very self-conscious, as he studies her face and her hair.

He smiles at her.

"So you are Leroy Jethro Gibbs." He nods.

"I'm Dana Stratton." They shake hands, and smile at each other. Dana cringes a little as she remembers the scene before, "listen, I'm sorry, it's just a surprise and I kind of had this last minute decision to accept the date and after that…" she stops, and sees that he's only smiling at her and looking at her hair.

"You are a real redhead."

"Yes," she points to it, "and it is not from a bottle," she laughs and feels mortified of what she said. "I mean, I just…"

"It's ok." He looks around, sees a thick winter coat hanging and gets it and holds it open so she can put it on. She dons it, and turns to him, and he offers his arm for her.

"Ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

Contrary to all their expectations, they had an amazing night. Dana is surprised that, despite the fact that Gibbs doesn't speak much, whenever he does he has a very sharp wit that had her in stitches.

Stratton was a pleasant surprise to Gibbs, as he expected someone sad and terribly overworked, crumbling under the stress of the job she has, but Dana had a very refreshing outlook on life, following the philosophy that, if life give you lemons, bring me salt and tequila shots and let's drink it.

They laughed at Maggie Buchanan's antics, and Dana told Gibbs she wasn't surprised that this had been completely orchestrated by the old bat. They talked very little about work, and tried to keep the mood light throughout the night.

They were surprised when the night was over, and it was with regret that Gibbs took Stratton back to her own home later that night.

"Is your daughter home?"

"No, she lives in the dormitory in Waverly, she wants to have the whole college experience, the crazy fraternities and such."

Gibbs nods, and thinks bitterly about his own daughter, who will never have the opportunity to experience that. Dana is mortified by her own callousness.

"Oh my God, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be…"

"It's ok," he looks at her, "it's not your fault, and I did ask."

"Oh, I'm sorry anyway."

"Don't apologize," she turns beautiful green eyes towards him, and he completes, "you did nothing wrong."

She smiles at him, "would you like to have a drink inside, before you go?"

He looks up at the house, and back at the gorgeous redhead before him.

"I'm driving, and besides, I'm more a bourbon type of guy."

She smiles looking at his eyes, "I think I have a bottle of bourbon, which hasn't been opened for a long time, somewhere in the bar."

He smiles at her, and shakes his head at her audacity. She gives her gloved hand to him, and he takes it and they enter the house holding hands.

He never drove home that night.

* * *

Reviews are food for the soul.

a/n - Go Gibbs, Go!


	2. Matthew x Sarah

**Matthew X Sarah**

_SCULLY: Time passes in moments... moments which, rushing past define the path of a life just as surely as they lead towards its end. How rarely do we stop to examine that path, to see the reasons why all things happen, to consider whether the path we take in life is our own making or simply one into which we drift with eyes closed. _

_But what if we could stop, pause to take stock of each precious moment before it passes? Might we then see the endless forks in the road that have shaped a life? And, seeing those choices, choose another path? _

Matthew gets out of the transport airplane, with his rucksack firmly held in his hands. After several months abroad, working as a reconstruction engineer for the marines, he was glad to finally have a couple of weeks leave to visit his family and see some of his buddies.

He was quite happy that his sister Joy had found a new place for herselfat NCIS in DC, and her emails were all enthusiastic about the team where she was assigned to. He also was able to read in between the lines that there was some kind of office romance going on, but his sister was very careful not to specify who she was dating, despite his several attempts to drag the truth out of her.

As Stephanie's birthday was coming up, he decided to fly into DC, as his parents would be flying in from Montana as well. He looks around the tarmac, but doesn't see his dad who had promised to pick him up from the airport. He walks towards the warehouse, hoping to see his dad in the aviator's office, telling outrageous stories to the other pilots sitting there.

He's surprised to find nobody in there. A uniformed cadet comes towards him, and salutes.

"Corporal Buchanan?"

"Yes,"

"sir, Colonel Thompson requests your presence in his office."

Matthew Buchanan frowns at that, but follows the cadet to the office. Once arriving there, he's surprised to find his father there, sitting on a chair before the colonel, with his back ramrod straight.

"Dad?"

"Matt, we need to talk."

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

Entering the NCIS building the first time with his parents and two FBI sisters, Matthew felt like a third wheel. He was not a profiler, or an investigator, he was a soldier. Give him a building to blow up, or a person to point his gun at, he would do it, but all this talk about profiles, M.O. and this and that and he was developing a headache.

He stayed solely to give support to his mother and father, despite the fact that they seemed to be dealing with the pressure much better than Hope and Faith, who were fidgeting on their chairs every five minutes.

Well, after the dressing down that Dad gave both women, it was a miracle that they weren't simply slapping each other just to release a little bit of tension.

He watches the NCIS Team Leader and the BAU leader talking, and is impressed by the posture and sharp thinking both leaders show during their brainstorming session. He had met the BAU team almost ten years ago, when Gideon was still a permanent force behind it and Joy was a junior agent. Later, when she graduated to full-time profiler and requested the transfer to LA, to the newly formed BAU in the West Coast, they lost contact and never saw any of these agents again. But he's not surprised that Joy's old team came to her rescue again as her life is in danger.

One of NCIS agents stands up and abruptly leaves his desk and goes to the bathroom, and as he runs by Matthew he can clearly see a mask of pure despair on his face.

As the agents talk between themselves, Matt adds one plus one and finds out that that agent must be the one his sister was dating, as Morgan implies that he should never have read what happened to herin the first case.

There is a tense moment as his father and the NCIS team leader have a staring match, trying to decide who should go to the men's room and talk to the distraught agent, but apparently his father still has the gift, as he gets permission from the fearless leader to console the young man.

After some minutes with the young man in the men's room, his father returns and sits back on his chair. The young man returns and he's somewhat energized with brand new spirit, and gives new ideas that end up breaking the case later on.

He goes home to the townhouse that the family is currently using in DC, and he has no idea how his life is about to change the following day.

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

"Hi Matthew, I have a task for you, just listen carefully, you will go to the Waverly University and pick up McGee's sister, she'll be standing by the entrance of the Main Library."

"Ok, mom, what for?"

"Gibbs and his team and Hotch and the boys went to collect Joy, but we don't know how she will be when they get to her. Sarah is worried about her brother, and I would be more comfortable having her around to give the good or bad news."

"Do they have any indication of how badly Joy might be hurt?"

"Honey, the last time, the only thing that bastard didn't do was kill her, I can't even imagine what he might have done to her now. But we have a helicopter on standby here, and I want you here with Sarah McGee."

"Ok Mom."

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

Matthew parks his car outside the huge building of the Waverly Library, and sees a gorgeous brunette pacing nervously up and down the entrance. He leans towards the steering wheel and observes her for a moment, how her soft curly hair moves in waves from one side to the other a sshe brusquely turns and keeps walking.

Her doll-like face is scrunched with worry, and he sees that she is fiercely thinking about something. He feels his heart speeding up, and it is as if a heat wave is exploding in his chest.

_Man, she's way out of your league._

He gets out of the car, checks his face out in the mirror-like surface of his rented car's window, and approaches the pacing brunette.

"Excuse me, ma'am, are you Sarah McGee?" she turns towards him and he is left facing the most gorgeous eyes he had ever seen, and he can't help but feel a huge idiotic grin spreading on his face.

"Yes, I'm Sarah McGee," even her voice is beautiful, a wonderful alto that makes his heart flutter.

He stretches his hand towards her, and can't help the smile on his face.

"I'm Matthew Buchanan, at your service, Ma'am."

She smiles back, "the name is Sarah," they shake hands firmly, and Matthew is ecstatic at the feeling of her soft hand on his, "no need to call me ma'am."

He nods at her, "ok, Sarah."

They release their hands, and smile at each other, "So…"

"Let's go, we have a helicopter to fly."

They go to the car and drive off to NCIS.

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

They arrive at NCIS, and shortly after their arrival they fly to the hospital where they received word that the team had taken a wounded Joy.

After the short flight, Matthew sees the young woman run to the tall green eyed agent, _I think his name is McGee_, and how they talk quietly in the corner. He sits with his parents, and prepares himself mentally to wait.

It will be a long night.

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

They receive updates on Joy's condition, and it is decided that McGee will stay with her in the hospital, as the whole rest of the clan as well as the other agents will rest in a nearby hotel that the local sheriff organized for them.

His mother herds her clan out of the hospital, and takes Sarah McGee under her wing. She hugs the young lady and makes sure that she eats along with her other daughters, and his father keeps her entertained with stories of the time he and his siblings were small children.

He can feel his ears burn as his father tells Sarah some very embarrassing stories of his and his brother Lucas exploding the barn one summer, and he feels out of breath as she throws her head back and laughs. She looks at him from across the dinner table and he feels his face burning with embarrassment.

_Oh man, I'm in trouble._

He sees the sharp look that his mother throws in his direction, and he immediately lowers his eyes to the table.

_Stupid, stupid, VERY stupid move, Matt. Your sister might be dying and you are hitting on a woman, __and what is wors__e__,__ she's your sister's boyfriend's little sister, and the man has a gun and he knows how to use it. Do you have a death wish?_

He lifts his eyes from the table, and his eyes directly connects with Sarah's who is looking at him. She studies him for a moment, and smiles. He can't help it, and smiles back.

_Oh man, I'm so dead._

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

God bless his sisters, always prepared for all emergencies known by man, as they managed to bring extra clothes for almost everyone. They give out small bags with extras to the agents and for the family members, and they pick out who will share with who the bedrooms which were rented for them.

The families are kept together, and the agents divide between themselves. He stands to the back a little bit, waiting to see what will be left for him. He sees his mother cunningly looking at him, and he fidgets a little wondering what might be happening behind those violet eyes. After his sisters and sister-in-law leave for their own rooms, and the BAU agents leave as well and so do NCIS, she finally shows the ace up her sleeve.

"Matthew dear, why don't you show Sarah where is her room? I believe it is 37 C, down the hall. Later you can come back and we will settle where you will sleep."

Sarah smirks, and Matthew opens his mouth to say something, but a sharp look from his mother forces him to shut it quickly. He turns, grabs Sarah's bag and hand and starts dragging her towards the stairs.

Once they are in the stairs he hugs her bag and releases Sarah's hand, and they climb silently towards the third floor of the motel, where her room is located.

"You have a very nice family."

"Yeah, if you like living with members of the Gestapo."

She laughs, "Come on, they are not that bad."

"Oh, no, they are not that bad, they are worse." He looks down at her, "when we were kids, whenever we kids started to fight or have any differences of opinion, mom would duct tape our hands together for a whole day, and force us to endure the person we were mad at until we solved our differences, or tried to kill each other."

He slides one of his hands nervously through his short military style hair, "I remember once Lucas and I tried to recreate a volcanic eruption, and almost set the shed on fire." He turns to her, "we used ethylic alcohol as fuel."

Sarah gasps horrified, "you could have died."

"We almost did," he shakes his head, "once the whole thing exploded, Lucas went mad at me and I at him, so we fought like angry cats trying to pin the blame on the other." He rolls his eyes, "of course mom found out, and forced us to share our existence tied up together for one week."

Sarah tries to hold down her laughter, but she can't, and she holds her middle as she imagines a young surly Matthew with singed clothes tied to his brother, dragging his feet on the floor.

They get to her door, and she's still laughing, and she supports her back against the door. He keeps looking at her for a moment, mesmerized by her beauty.

"You were a very naughty boy, Matthew Buchanan."

He studies her face, and approaches her body with his, "you are wrong, Sarah McGee," he looks her in the eyes, and sees her biting her lower lip, in a move that drives him mad with desire, "I'm still am." He leans down and kisses her.

She corresponds shyly at first, but as the kiss gains momentum he feels her arms going up and one hugs him by his shoulders and the other softly holds him by his neck. He feels a shiver running down his body, and he folds his arms around her body and brings it against his, feeling her soft breasts against his hard chest. He moans, and keeps kissing her breathlessly.

He stops, and both are breathing raggedly.

She smiles saucily at him, and starts opening the door.

"Sarah, I don't think this is a good idea …"

"Wanna come in?"

"Sarah, I…"

She grabs him by the lapel of his shirt, and breathing becomes optional as she kisses him senseless. She asks him again.

"Wanna come in?"

"Yes." He answers with a rough voice. She drags him in, and closes the door.

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

"Where is Matthew?" asks Joseph as he is prepping himself for bed, and Maggie snorts.

"Please, where do you think he is?" Joseph's face becomes a comic mask, and Maggie laughs.

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

The morning light shone on Matthew's face, waking him up from the most restful slumber he had in ages. He smiles and tries to stretch, but he's stopped by a very female form lying against his left side. He freezes and opens his eyes and looks down to the very young and very innocent face of the young Sarah McGee, sleeping against his chest.

Matthew closes his eyes and remembers the most amazing sex he had had in a long time, and the fact that she was a gorgeous and intelligent woman was a big plus, but he cringed when he imagined going out and having to face his parents.

_My dad will kill me,_ he thinks, _and my mom will start picking out the china patterns._

He looks down again at her face, and sees her gorgeous eyes looking at him. He is again taken by surprise by the effect a mere look by this vixen has on his body, as he feels himself getting excited just by looking at her face.

"Morning," she says softly.

"Morning," he answers.

"Look, if you are having regrets," she starts leaving the bed, and he panics.

"No, no," he sits down on the bed and stops her, "no, I'm not having regrets, I…"

She looks at him, hurt, hugging the bed linen against her breasts, "the last thing I want to do is to hurt you, but," she keeps looking at him, "you are amazing, and gorgeous and sexy but you are also my sister's boyfriend's sister, and I seriously think he might kill me when he finds out what happened, or at the very least my sister will kill me, because she will think I took advantage of you, but I didn't as I…"

"You didn't, I took advantage of you," says Sarah.

"Yes," she frowns at him, and he corrects himself, "No, what I mean, either way, I'm dead, because if one of my sisters doesn't kill me, my parents will and I don't… I don't want you to think I don't respect you, because I do…"

"Are you afraid of my brother's reaction or your family's reaction?"

Matthew sighs, and looks at Sarah with a serious expression on his face, "both, I think, but I'm more afraid of my family's, they tend to have explosive reactions if they think someone under their protection is taken advantage of."

Sara smiles at him, and lifts a hand to caress his face. Matthew leans against her hand and closes his eyes, enjoying her touch.

"Sarah," his voice is strangled with emotion.

"You are a very honorable man, Matthew Buchanan." She leans towards him, and he tries to stop her.

"You know, we should get ready to go to the hospital," she kisses him, and when she stops he keeps talking, "maybe we should go and…" she smiles at him and kisses him again, softly, and Matt moans with desire.

When she stops again, and looks down at him, he studies her face for a moment, nods and hugs her against his chest, and stops trying to talk.

They never made it to breakfast.

* * *

Reviews are food for the soul.


	3. Tony X Ziva

_**Tony X Ziva**_

_**Learning to live in the present moment is part of the path of joy. - Sarah Ban Breathnach**_

_**SCULLY: Well, it seems to me that the best relationships- the ones that last- are frequently the ones that are rooted in friendship. You know, one day you look at the person and you see something more than you did the night before. Like a switch has been flicked somewhere. And the person who was just a friend is... suddenly the only person you can ever imagine yourself with**_.

When he met her, he was swirling in a sea of pain and despair, hoping that the last few days were just a nightmare and that at some moment, he would wake up and see that it hadn't really happened, that Kate was still alive, and that bastard Ari did not shoot down his partner and leave a huge empty space in their team.

His mind, trying to deal with the pain, tried to create an elaborate sexual fantasy where Kate was in a school girl uniform. Even dead, Kate still had spunk and put him in his place.

Then she came into his life. She scared him, taunted him, and generally just annoyed him. She was a sexual creature, not afraid of using her looks to achieve her goals, and did not fold to his advances. Instead, she fought back his innuendo with more innuendo, showing clearly that his advances, though not welcomed, were appreciated.

Initially there was suspicion, then later on a small camaraderie started to bloom. Her annoying habit of murdering the English language gave him ammunition to annoy her no end, but as the years went by she conquered her position on the team, and she slowly crawled into that hollow space he carried in his chest for so long, but bitterly denied its existence.

The attraction was still there, and lust sometimes spilled out during their interactions, but Gibbs' rule 12 still lingered between them. They respected their fearless leader too much to even imagine trying to dare breaking it.

So they dated other people, slept around if the loneliness or the tension became too much to bear, or if the only solution for their emptiness was the momentary chemical release in the brain resultant of stolen moments with another human being.

Both dared to risk their hearts at least once: he falling in love with the daughter of that arms dealer; she enjoying the warmth and familiarity of an old lover from Mossad.

Both had their hopes and dreams crushed by reality: Jeanne hated him after she found out she was just a person of interest, a mere tool to reach his father. Michael was murdered by his own hands, and even though he protested it was self-defence, she was in pain and hurt by it, and it lead her to take a decision that almost cost her life.

She didn't know who to trust, so she turned back to old habits, and accepted the orders like a good soldier. And, like a good soldier, she accepted the possible certainty that she would die, alone and forgotten, in that dusty prison cell in Africa.

But then _he_ came to rescue her, after she had given up all hope of any type of rescue. And somehow she was given a new lease on life. Their interactions were strained those first days, but they slowly drifted back into the old teasing and banter that they were comfortable with.

Still, his smile was sometimes strained, and she felt his eyes lingering on her, whenever he thought that she was not looking. Sometimes their gazes would lock, and in that millisecond they would express more than a thousand words could ever say, and then one of them would break eye contact, talk about the case or some new piece of evidence that was uncovered, and that moment would be gone forever.

A new member was forced onto their team, and the dynamics changed. Now there was someone who worked side by side with Probie, who did not take any crap from him and that treated her with polite respect. If he tried to act as his normal frat boy persona, she crushed his childish attitude and requested the minimum respect both for herself and for her partner.

Initially her presence brought discomfort for both of them, as she seemed to observe them with eagle eyes, always analysing their every move and words, trying to decipher their very soul.

But it was her interaction with Probie that caused them more bewilderment. Completely oblivious or consciously ignoring Gibbs' rule 12, the newcomer swept Probie off his feet and became a permanent fixture in his life. Considering Probie's previous lack of success with women for as long as they knew him, this gorgeous woman willingly attaching herself to him, and defending him so fiercely was almost unheard of.

They were baffled by it. They were awed by it. They were jealous.

As the time went by, and the circumstances around her past came out to haunt her, they finally realized that the situation was very different than the picture they had painted in their heads.

She wasn't just testing the waters with him, or simply using him as an available bed warmer to later on throw him awaylike a wet cloth.

She genuinely overcame her fears, her terrors and her own past to take the chance of having a relationship with Probie. Considering her past and her scars, only someone with Probie's deep sensitivity could handle someone as damaged as she was.

And that's why she defended him something fierce. She recognized him as something precious and rare, that she might never have the chance of finding again, and that must be protected at all costs.

She had already lost so much. She wasn't willing to wait for another time and another place. Life was too short to be little, so she would take any chance she could and break any rule she had to break, if that meant that she would have a little piece of heaven on earth.

They had a huge wake-up call when they saw the despair on Probie's face when they found that bastard's lair, where the scent of blood and sex in the air indicated that unspeakable horrors had been done to the woman he cherished.

It was even more heartbreaking those few moments when they stood over the cliff, looking down to the unmoving body floating in the dark waters below.

The trip to the hospital was a blur. The wait for news on her condition was agonizing, as they saw the calm of their friend slowly crumbling. But it also gave them hope, as they saw her family members acting as a buffer, cradling every little piece before it reached the floor, and covering him with care and attention. They opened their arms and their hearts to him, welcoming him in their fold, and showering him with a love so pure that it might not cure all wounds, but at least helped to make the burden lighter.

And it made them even more jealous. And then they became angry at themselves for being jealous in first place. There they were, and they should be worried if their teammate would live to see another day, and they were ashamed of their own pettiness for being jealous because Probie and her had the courage to take the chance, and they had something together, even if it might not last forever, but they did it.

While they had lingered years without end, touching but not touched, together but apart.

That night, they witnessed what a true family can do for one of its own, and how they eagerly welcome a new member just as a small thanks for him being brave enough to take the next step and openly admit his feelings.

They went to the motel and the family slowly drifted to their own bedrooms, the team divided two rooms. After rolling around restlessly for several minutes, without finding a comfortable position to sleep in, he finally leaves the bed, puts on a jumper over his pyjamas and with his sandalsin his hand, slowly went to the door.

"Going somewhere, DiNozzo?" Gibbs' voice freezes him as he touches the handle of the door.

"Can't sleep, boss," he says softly, "I'm getting a beer to try to relax."

"uhm," says Gibbs, and turns to the other side and settles on his own pillow. He opens the door, and before he closes the door, hears his boss softly saying something that surprises him.

"Say hi to Ziva for me."

He smiles, and closes the door. He walks down the corridor where the vending machines are, and fishes some coins from his pocket, completely intent on getting something, anything just to justify his intentions. As he turns at the end of the corridor, he's surprised to see the object of his desires and thoughts fighting with the machine.

"Bloody stupid thing," she slaps the glass, angry at the chocolate bar that seems to be stuck in the coil, hanging precariously but not falling down.

He studies her for a moment, her figure hidden by the layers of blankets she arranged around herself trying to preserve the heat, that she was dragging around as mantle.

"Need some help?"

"Tony," she points at the machine, "it stole my dollar and it is holding my chocolate hostage."

He approaches the offending machine, and smiles when he hears her muttering.

"Maybe I should go back to my room and get my gun."

"No need for such extremes," he slaps the glass with his open hand and the chocolate bar falls, and he gives it to her with a flourish.

She opens it and eagerly eats it, "why are you still awake?"

"Can't sleep," he studies her face, seeing her delight with the candy, and feeling that familiar emotion burning in his chest, "you?"

"Can't either," she frowns, and softly adds, "every time I close my eyes I see Buchanan's broken body and she's not breathing, the machines are off and she's dead."

She looks up at him, "I wish I had the chance of shooting the bastard, or at least having the chance of being alone in a room with him for some minutes," she looks at him with a hardness in her eyes that he recognize as her Mossad training, "he would learn never ever to hurt one of our own ever again."

"I would love to watch that," he smiles, "hell, maybe I would even sell tickets to the Buchanans, I would be rich in no time."

They softly laugh, but soon they become sober again, as there are too many unspoken words between them that weight heavily in the silence.

"Ziver…"

"Tony…"

They pause, and smile at each other, studying the other's face with care and devotion. She recognizes the hunger as well as the pain in his face, but she isn't brave enough to take the first step.

Unfortunately, neither is he.

"It´s late."

"Yes, it is."

"I better go back to bed."

"Yes."

She turns around and goes to her room. Before she enters it, she looks back down the corridor, and sees him standing exactly where she left him, by the vending machines, staring at her with an intensity that gives her shivers.

She opens the doors and hides inside the dark bedroom.

Tomorrow will be another day, and maybe she will need to prepare herself for a funeral.

Maybe someday, but not today.

* * *

Reviews are food for the soul.


	4. Jimmy x Temperance

_**Temperance X Jimmy**_

**_Man makes plans and God laughs. - Anonymous_**

"You work with my sister, don't you?"

Jimmy Palmer looks up from his coffee cup, into which he had been staring for the last couple of minutes. He had been appalled to see the wounds and welts on Joy's body, and seeing the vital blood slowly pooling under the agent as the EMTs frantically tried to save her life had forced him to realize how human life was fragile.

He looks at the stranger who is speaking, and sees that it is the youngest Buchanan sister. He can't remember her name.

"Yes, I do, but I'm not really that close to her," she sits by his side at the table in the hospital cafeteria, "as she usually interacts more with Dr. Mallard than with me."

She nods, "she thinks the world of you guys, the first time she called me after she moved to DC, maybe one month after she left home, she spent at least fifteen minutes describing each one of the team." She smiles, remembering her sister's enthusiasm, "I was glad to hear her excited about something again."

"Yeah," he says, looking at the good looking woman by his side. He stretches his hand, "I'm James Palmer, but everybody calls me Jimmy."

"Oh gosh," she blushes prettily, embarrassed at her own faux pas, and takes his hand and shakes it firmly, "I'm Temperance Buchanan, but everybody calls me Temp."

"Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too."

They stay in silence after letting go of each other's hands, each one glancing at the other briefly and back to the table.

"Did you have the chance to see her?" Temp asks softly, and Jimmy looks at her heartbroken, "I mean, when they brought her in. I have the impression you were in the helicopter that flew her here. So…" Jimmy looks sadly at her, and she sighs, "please tell me the truth, how badly hurt was she?"

"Ah…" he frowns his forehead, thinking fast. How could he describe the gruesome pattern of bruises on Agent Buchanan's body to her little sister? He looks at her again, and her violet eyes are begging him to tell the truth. "She looked bad. Really bad. I initially thought that she was dead, but the continuous bleeding indicated that her heart was at least beating, I just wasn't sure for how long."

Temp lowers her head to her chest, and Jimmy feels like an ogre.

"I shouldn't have said that, listen I'm sure she will get better…"he says, but Temp interrupts him.

"Sometimes I wonder if I can handle all this." He stops, and Temperance looks at him heartbroken, "I joined the FBI training but my heart isn't really into it. I'm proud of my sisters' achievements, Faith is a Section Chief, Hope is one their greatest gadget inventors, and Grace works in the Missing Persons unit in Utah, but…" she shakes her head, "I really don't know if I will fit in, if I can handle the dangers and the price they pay for what they do."

She looks at this gentle stranger, and sees only compassion behind his wire rimmed eyes.

"Joy has always been different from us. It was almost as she was… on a quest. Since she was a teenager, everything she's ever studied, everything she's ever done was with the purpose of becoming an FBI agent. She always knew she would become a profiler."

She looks down and stares at her own pale hands, "I don't have that same conviction."

Jimmy looks at the young lady sitting by his side, pouring her heart out to him, a perfect stranger, connected only by the feeble existence of the agent currently in the ICU.

He covers her twisting hands with one of his, stilling their anxious movements. She looks at him with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sure that your sisters, at some point of their journey, had the same doubts you are having now. But they didn't give up, they kept pushing through and became great agents. I don't know about the others, but I can affirm that Agent Buchanan, I mean, Joy, is one of the finest agents I ever had the pleasure to work with. She always treated me kindly, and never belittled me if I said something wrong or improper, which I tend to do a lot," that brings a faint smile to Temp's face, "but… what I'm trying to say is, that one day, you will see that your doubts were nothing, and that whatever price you have to pay is worthwhile because it is a meaningful job, because you can save lives," he gulps, and releases her hand, "or at the very least, bring justice to those who had lost theirs."

She studies his face, and notices for the first time what a good looking man is before her. His face is framed by black curls, and the glasses just added personality to his fine face. His eyes were full of compassion, and he wasn't that hard to look at. She smiles at him, a sincere smile, and Jimmy gulps as he feels the full impact of the Buchanan charm on him.

"You are a good man, Jimmy," she says sincerely, "thanks for talking with me, and I apologize for dumping all that on you," she blushes prettily again, and Jimmy is charmed.

"No problem and no need to apologize," he says,"I was glad to help."

"What do you do in NCIS?"

"Ah, I…" he looks at her and he's initially afraid that his activity will put her off, but he decides to say the truth, "I'm an M.E. assistant."

"Oh, so you work in the morgue with the Doctor with a funny name?" she says smiling at him, not grossed out at all.

"Yes, I work with Dr. Mallard, but everybody just calls him Ducky."

She laughs a little, remembering her sister's confusion, "at first, Joy thought it was a prank, after all, what kind of self-respecting doctor would accept being named Ducky?" she smiles at the memory, "later on she told me that it was just a term of endearment."

"Yes," he studies her placid face, and he's happy she didn't cringe at his profession, "what about you? What are you planning to do in the FBI?"

"I have a minor in criminal forensics, but my first love is chemistry in all its glorious forms, so basically I will probably end up working on the Science Labs really."

"That's great, just like Abby."

"Abby?" Temp is confused, as she hadn't been introduced to this person yet.

"Yes, she is our Lab forensic tech back in DC, you would like her, she's very nice."

Temp frowns for a moment, trying to remember what her sister told her about this person, and her face opens in a big smile, "the happy goth?"

"Yes, that's her, she's always in gothic style but she's one of the most caring and compassionate persons I've ever met."

She nods, but her smiles dims a little, and Jimmy is curious why.

"What?"

"Joy thinks that Abby doesn't like her, just because she's dating Timothy."

"Ah, but that's not true, she…" Jimmy stops trying to defend Abby, as he remembers several instances that Abby acted un-abby like around Joy. He looks at Temp, and she nods at him, "you don't think…" he pauses for a moment.

"Joy tried several instances to raise a white flag, but she simply gave up, the next step must be from her side."

"oh," Jimmy is uncomfortable about his friend's actions, but there's nothing he can do about it.

Temp studies his face for a moment, and surprises him with a question out of the left field.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Oh, me?" Jimmy says in a strangled voice, and blushes, "Oh, I… you know I … It's been a while, no… I mean," he looks at her, and sees that she's staring at him with those intense violet eyes, and he blushes even deeper, "no, I don't."

"Ok," she says, "would you like to meet up to get a cup of coffee? One of these days, when you are free, and I'm in DC from Quantico. " she blushes faintly, and Jimmy is a goner, hook, line and sinker.

"Sure, why not?"

They glance at each other, and look away, and they look again at each other and grin.

"Good."

"It would be nice."

"Yeah."

* * *

Reviews are food for the soul.


	5. Abby x Joy

**_Abby x Joy_**

"Are you sure that she will welcome my visit? We didn't even get along before this mess."

McGee looks sternly at Abby, who isin her gothic finest to visit Joy in the hospital. After staying in the ICU in Charlottesville a couple of days, Ducky and her family arranged Joy's transfer to Bethesda, so it would be easier for the family to check - or simply hover like a mother hen – about her.

She was slowly recovering from her captivity, but the doctors insisted on full rest until they deemed her able to start physiotherapy. She was adamant that the NCIS team should go back to work, and not worry about her, as her own family was more than enough to pester her into oblivion.

She had been admitted to Bethesda three days before, and even though the whole team had visited her at least once, this would be the first visit by Abby.

"Abby, contrary to what you might think, she doesn't dislike you. She just always tried to stay out of your way, as she noticed you treated her differently, so she simply did not wish to cause you any problems."

"But she still might not like me coming over," says Abby, fearful of the agent's reaction.

"Abby, whatever had happened, it's in the past," says McGee with conviction.

"How can you be so sure of that?" She looks at McGee, ashamed of her own behavior, "she might still resent my presence here."

"Abby," McGee stops and holds her by her shoulders, and looks her in the eye, "I know you had your differences, but she is hurting, and she is in pain, and she's bored, and the doctors forbid her to even move from bed, and she needs cheering up. And if there is one person who can take Joy out of this funk it is you. I've never met any person who didn't cheer up whenever you enter a room. So please," he makes a puppy begging face, "could you please be nice and try to cheer her up?"

Abby sighs, and nods defeated. "but if she sends me packing, I have the right to say I told you so."

"Ok, you will, now, just for your information, she might look …" McGee frowns, "bad, but actually she is 100 per cent better than when we found her, but still…" Abby frowns, as she had read the report and seen the pictures, but nothing could have prepared her to what she would see.

She entered the hospital room, and the sunset light slowly shone inside the bedroom illuminating the single medical bed. In it, she found the wounded agent still connected to a myriad of machines, beeping rhythmically. A nose canula gave her oxygen, as there was some concern about the state of her lungs after her impromptu dive in the lake. The other lines were connected somewhere under her gown, bringing her medicines straight into her bloodstream.

She cracks her eyes open, and the one of them opens just a little because of his punch to her face. The marks on her neck are hidden by a scarf that Hope brought from home. Her face is pale, and her right arm is still immobilized.

Abby approaches the bedridden agent slowly, unsure of what kind of reception she might receive. Brown eyes are studying the goth, following her movements.

"Hi," says Abby.

"Hi," Joy looks at Tim, and he smiles down at Joy, at the same time one of his arms go around Abby's shoulders, completely oblivious of the tension between the two women.

"I brought Abby to visit you, as you complained you were bored of watching reruns of Friends and American Idol episodes on TV." Her eyes go to the TV, which now is playing the _Boom da yaah_ ad from Discovery.

"Uhm," says Joy, "welcome to my humble prison," she smiles faintly, her dry lips cracking, "but there are conditions for your stay."

"Joy," says McGee, frowning down at her, and Abby cringes at what she thinks will be a reprimand, and is surprised by the mischievous shine in Joy's eyes.

"You have to smuggle me some candy, Nurse Godzilla stole my stash of chocolate covered cookies that Hope brought me," Joy pouts, and Abby smiles at her.

"Are you even allowed to eat them?" McGee doesn't remember her planned menu exactly, but sweets definitely weren't on it. He gets the glass of water and brings the straw to Joy's lips, and she sucks the precious liquid eagerly.

"Ah, Tim, please! I'm craving it! And I have PMS, so I´m craving it even more!" she turns to Abby, and pleads with her eyes, "pretty please, Stephy told me they have a vending machinein the waiting area, can you please bring me at least one Mars bar?"

Abby laughs, as Joy reminds her of herself without Caff-Pow, "I will see what I can do." She smiles at McGee and leaves the room, heading to the vending machines down the corridor.

McGee looks down at Joy in the hospital bed, and she smiles softly at him, "will you promise me to behave?" she makes a face at him.

"Don't I always?"

He leans down and kisses her softly on the lips, "gotta go, be nice to Abby." He leaves the room, and Joy stays, sullenly watching reruns of _Man vs Wild_. When Abby comes back to the room, Joy is making disgusted faces at Bear Grills drinking his own pee on the TV.

"I love how he does all those crazy stunts," says Abby looking at the TV, and makes a disgusted face as he puts a toasted spider in his mouth and cringes, eating it, "but I would never do what he does, or eat the things he eats, even if my life depended on it."

She hands the Mars bar to Joy, who eagerly rips the wrapper off the candy and almost moans with delight, eating it, "Never say never Abby, it is amazing what a person can do if she is desperate enough."

The mood becomes sombre, as both women think of the events that lead to the forced hospital stay.

Joy smiles at Abby faintly, "Did my mom really have a little chat with Director Vance?"

Abby snickers a little, and grabs one of the visitor's chairs and brings it closer to the bedside.

"Tony told me that she blackmailed the director, ordering him around like a drill sergeant, and later on she still defended Tim when he wanted to dress him down because he had punched a suspect."

Joy smiled as she heard the antics of her mother, but she was deeply surprised by the gossip Abby is feeding her.

"Did Tim really punch a suspect?"

"Yep, right after Gibbs got him into custody." Both women laugh, but Joy grimace as she feels her side smarting a little. Abby sees her grimace of pain, and asks "Want me to call a nurse?" she starts to stand up, but Joy stops her.

"No please," Abby freezes, "I feel like a pincushion, with so many tubes stuck into me that I can barely think without help from a nurse, so, really, I'm fine." She shakes her head slowly, "I just want a little bit of peace without someone checking my temperature every five minutes."

Abby sits down again, and they stay in silence again. Abby studies the private hospital room that the Buchanans arranged for Joy. It had a nice window, and sunlight softly filtered through the curtains,illuminating the room. There were some vases of flowers on the table, and several get well cards around the vases. She turns her head to study Joy again, and sees the agent looking at her, patiently waiting for her to speak.

"He really loves you, you know," says Abby, "he tried to pretend it was ok, trying to give the impression that he wasn't panicking ah, but I know him," Abby studies Joy's face, who is looking at the Goth attentively, "he was terrified that he was going to lose you,especially after waiting for so long for someone like you to come along."

"Someone like me?" there is a question in Joy's voice.

"Someone dependable, someone he knows who will be there for him, no matter what."

Both women spend another moment in silence, both deep in thought. Joy decides to finally ask something that has bothered her for a long time, but she had never had the chance or opportunity to really talk with the forensic specialist.

"Why?" Abby sighs, and Joy insists with her line of questioning, "you had it all, he would have done everything for you, he would have died for you, he almost did once or twice, he would have given you the world, if it was in his grasp, but you … you let him go. Why?"

Abby leans closer to Joy's bed, and says in a low voice, almost ashamed of her behavior, "I liked his attention, and the way he treated me like a lady, someone really special, and he speaks Geek, he speaks my language so we could always communicate and he would follow my crazy ramblings about hacking, and computers and games but…"

She plays a little with her studded leather wristband, and keeps on talking, "but he wanted something very different from what I wanted, from what I could give him at that moment, and somehow, it was never enough. I wasn't ready for taking that step, what I could give him wasn't what he wanted, so we drifted apart. We stayed friends, but…" she looks at Joy's eyes, and sees her paying attention to her, analyzing her very words, "it wasn't meant to be."

After Abby opens up her heart, Joy nods and thinks about what she had been told for a moment.

"When we met, me and McGee, I was in a very, very dark place." She touches lightly her right breast, where the scar of Jarod's first bullet mars her skin, "the wounds had healed, but the pain never really let go. I truly believed that I would never…" she looks at Abby, and smiles despite the tears filling her eyes, "I would never let any man touch me again. Ever. But things were so effortless with Tim, that…" she closes her eyes, in a vain effort to stop the tears from running down her face, "I wanted so much to believe that there was still someone like him, someone so amazing, that I kept coming back for more, and more and suddenly he was this huge part of my life and…" she pauses for a moment, biting her lower lip, "now I can't even imagine my life without him anymore."

"I'm glad to hear that," says Abby, "because I don't think he can imagine his life without you either."

The women smile at each other, having silently signed their armistice without any battle being fought. Abby opens her big bag, in black cloth and white skulls all over it, and grabs a deck of cards.

"What do you wanna play?"

"How are you at poker?"

"I play a mean hand," says Abby.

Both smile, and Abby deals.

"What are we going to bet?"

"If you bring more chocolate we could bet candy bars."

"Deal."

* * *

Reviews are food for the soul.


	6. Jethro x Dana

_**Jethro x Dana**_

"May I come in?"

Gibbs looks up from his boat, and smiles when he sees Dana Stratton in comfortable dark blue jeans and a thick yellow turtleneck at the top of the stairs leading to his basement.

"Sure," he says.

She slowly climbs down the steps, eagerly looking around the haven he had created for himself. The tools were hazardously hanging from hooks under the wooden cabinets against the walls, and several jars, each full of different types of screws, bolts, nuts and nails of different sizes and uses adorned the top of the workbench. The light from a single naked bulb struggled to illuminate the room, giving a faint idea of its dept.

The smell of recently cut wood filled the air, and the dust of the freshly sanded boat created a fine mist in the air, giving an almost ethereal look to the room.

She approaches the boat, and slides her hand with well manicured hands, with a deep chocolate color on its nails, over the unvarnished wood.

"You cancelled dinner, and you haven't called lately," she looks at Gibbs, "I was worried you might be avoiding me."

Gibbs smiles, "I wasn't avoiding you, I was busy."

Dana nods, and looks around the basement until her attentive gaze returns on the figure of the ex-marine who entered her life and stolen her piece of mind. He is studying her as attentively as she is studying him, and she sees that he's in his comfortable jeans and bright orange pullover. An ever faithful jar of something she can't identify is being used as a glass, sitting on the workbench, and she would bet her month salary that the liquid sloshing in it is bourbon.

"We are both adults, Jethro," she folds her arms, "and we can be honest with each other."

"I'm not lying," insists Gibbs.

"I'm not saying that you are lying," Dana shakes her head, half heartedly, "I just don't think you are telling the whole truth." She approaches the man, and stares him in the eye, "I have no intention of putting any type of pressure on you, nor I have any illusions of becoming Mrs. Gibbs number five," she sees the surprise on his face, as she reveals how many wives he had correctly, including Shannon, "don't look so surprised, I do work for the Secret Service."

"Look, I'm not looking for the great love of my life, because I had it already. I spent twenty years side by side with the man who I will love until the day I die, and nothing will probably change that," she sighs, and looks at him in the eye, and says sincerely, "but I like you, Jethro, and I like your company. I'm seeking a companion to share some moments, and sometimes, late at night, talk or something else more … invigorating. I don't want to be one of those widows who are buried with their dead husbands, leaving only an empty shell behind."

Gibbs studies Dana's face, and stares into her eyes for a moment, and sees the sincerity in them.

"And I don't think you want to do that either." Gibbs stares at her, and she fidgets a little and decides that enough is enough, time to retreat, but she still has something to say. As she reaches the stairs she stops as she supports her hand on the rail.

"Contrary to what you might have thought and what you might have felt, you didn't die with Shannon or Jenny, Jethro. There's so much more to live. You are still very much alive." She lowers her head to her chest, and gathers her thoughts for a while. She starts climbing the stairs.

"You know here to find me."

Gibbs looks around the basement, at his tools and his unfinished boat, a work of love but also a byproduct of his obsessive personality. He could stay and keep on sanding the boat, or…

"Stay."

She pauses for a moment, doubting what she had heard. She turns to him, her hands holding the rail of the stairs in a death grip.

"What did you say?"

"Stay." Another pause. "Don't go."

A pink tongue humidifies suddenly dried lips.

"Jethro, you know what will happen if I stay."

"I know."

"Yet still…."

"Yes."

"I'm not looking for a Prince Charming or a husband number two, I had it already, it will be…"

"Yes."

"Pure and unabridged lust."

"Yes."

"Yet you still want…"

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes." He growls his answer now.

She smiles, and climbs down the stairs faster than he could have imagined that she was capable of and walks towards him, until she is standing before him. There is an awkward pause, as each studies the face of the other, but any awkwardness that might exist quickly evaporates into thin air as he grabs her by her waist and brings her body against his, and proceeds to kiss her deeply.

They exchange kisses until they are breathless, and pause for a moment. They gaze at each other again.

She lifts one of her hands and touches his face. He closes his eyes briefly at the contact.

"I don't have time nor patience to wait for maybes, Jethro. Whatever I can get now, whatever you can give me, now, I will take it. No ties, no commitment, no pressure. I just want to know that, if I need you, if I can count on you."

"You can count on me, you know where to find me."

"Yes, I do."

They kiss.

And words became unnecessary after that.

* * *

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